The first day of reading period will also be the first day of postseason play for the Harvard baseball team as it battles Princeton for the Ivy League crown tomorrow at noon at O'Donnell Field.

The Crimson (26-15, 16-4 Ivy) and Tigers (24-18, 15-5) are meeting in the three-game series for the Ancient Eight title for the fourth year in a row. But this is the first time they will be playing for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which expanded from 48 to 64 teams for the 1999 season.

"Four years in a row," said Harvard Coach Joe Walsh, the two-time Northeast Region Division I Coach of the Year. "I think the Ivy League could save some money and print the shirts right now--Harvard vs. Princeton for the championship, and just change the year each season."

Fans can indulge themselves in the Harvard-Princeton rivalry even more as the games will be extended from seven- to nine-inning contests. Should the champions of the Red Rolfe and Lou Gehrig Divisions split tomorrow's double-header, they will play the rubber match at O'Donnell on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Crimson, which has won the last two Ivy titles, swept the playoff last year by walloping the Tigers 13-6 and 13-4, but the championship series could go the distance this time. Princeton beat Harvard, 3-1, in the first game of an April 10 doubleheader at O'Donnell before the Crimson took the nightcap, 3-0.

"These are two pretty evenly matched teams," Walsh said. "We played two good, low-scoring ballgames during the season, which is unusual with the aluminum bat, but that can be expected because both teams have good pitching staffs."

Princeton Coach Scott Bradley will likely give the nod to two rookie righthanders Saturday, Chris Young and Tom Rowland.

The 6'10 Young (4-1, 1.52 ERA), who won the Ivy Rookie of the Year in basketball as a center, earned his second Ivy League Rookie of the Week award on the diamond this week after a three-hit shutout over Columbia. He won the first award April 13 after holding Harvard to one unearned run on two hits and ten strikeouts in a 3-1 Princeton victory. In 29.2 innings of work, Young has held opposing batters to a .172 average and 17 hits.

"We had a team meeting about staying off pitches that hurt us and caused a lot of strikeouts the first time," junior first baseman Eric Binkowski said. "That means passing up high fastballs out of the strike zone against Young and staying off sliders against Rowland. We've really been working on that and I'm confident guys will swing the bats well when they get their pitch."